Construction blamed for poor business

Fall is usually one of the busiest times of year for Nancy Schafer, owner of Wedding Daze bridal shop in Bay City.

But the racks in her store are still full and her phone is not ringing. She says she doesn't have to look far for the reason why. It's been right outside her door all summer and into the fall.

"I lost about 80 percent of my homecoming business because of the construction," said Schafer.

Business owners said the construction project on Salzburg Road has been a nightmare. The project has been going on since April and was expected to be completed by mid-summer.

But several months later, work is still underway. And on top of that, the phones went down on Tuesday.

"It's really been disheartening," said Schafer. "We planned for July and we are looking at November."

Schafer says she has had to make some tough decisions because of the delay. She says she has made dozens of phone calls and sent numerous emails to the Michigan Department of Transportation trying to get answers.

"They say they are very sorry for the impact its had on my business, but we still don't seem to get any results," said Schafer.

So TV5 contacted MDOT to ask the Tough Questions about the delay but have not heard back from them.

Meanwhile, Schafer is not optimistic on the latest time frame for the work to be done.

"I can see the writing on the wall," laments Schafer. "We won't be finished until the they're done down there, which is going to be mid-November possibly."